wfn.org | [ELD] Stewardship in a time of financial crisis challenges congregations

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

>Episcopal Life Daily
>November 13, 2008

>Episcopal Life Online is available at
>http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Stewardship in a time of financial crisis challenges
congregations
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - LOS ANGELES: County supervisors latest to urge
overturning gay marriage ban
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - PENNSYLVANIA: Court hears arguments about its order
to depose Bennison
* WORLD REPORT - AUSTRALIA: Century-long construction on Brisbane
cathedral completed
* MISSION - Churches join to offer identification and dignity to
Orlando's homeless
* FEATURE - Answering the call: Nebraska deacon felt led to Sudan
ministry
* DAYBOOK - November 14, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Waiting in Joyful Hope: Daily Reflections for Advent &
Christmas 2008-2009

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

Stewardship in a time of financial crisis challenges congregations

Episcopalians looking for ways to help those harder hit

>By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service] Stewardship season, the time when Episcopal
congregations ask their members to decide how much of their income they
will give to support the church's mission, coincided this year with a
global economic crisis that caused layoffs, home foreclosures, shrunken
investment portfolios and retirement accounts, and mostly dire
predictions about the future. 

While some Episcopal congregations advocate the biblical tithe of 10
percent and others suggest proportional giving (setting an initial
percentage of income to pledge and then increasing it each year), both
models - and all the variations in between - depend upon givers knowing
or being able reasonably to predict the income upon which to pledge. The
current uncertainty makes that predicting harder.

Yet the Rev. Brad Whitaker, rector of Christ Church in Grosse Pointe
Farms, Michigan, said, "I don't feel it's appropriate to go into panic
mode." He won't be preaching "arm-twisting" stewardship sermons, he
added.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_102453_ENG_HTM.htm

More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife

>_____________________

>DIOCESAN DIGEST

LOS ANGELES: County supervisors latest to urge overturning gay marriage
ban
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_102492_ENG_HTM.htm 

PENNSYLVANIA: Court hears arguments about its order to depose Bennison
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_102491_ENG_HTM.htm

More Diocesan news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

AUSTRALIA: Century-long construction on Brisbane cathedral completed
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_102459_ENG_HTM.htm

More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>MISSION

Churches join to offer identification and dignity to Orlando's homeless

>By Lisa B. Hamilton

[Episcopal News Service] Survival as a homeless person in America takes
more than courage and perseverance. It takes identification. A social
security number, a state ID and a birth certificate is a trio sometimes
called "the golden ticket" since at least two forms of identification
are typically required to apply for a job, open a bank account or enroll
in a drug rehabilitation program, especially if one does not have a
permanent address.

To tackle this situation, five downtown Orlando, Florida churches --
Episcopal, Presbyterian, United Methodist, Roman Catholic and Lutheran
-- have launched IDignity, an all-volunteer organization that secures
legal identification for about 250-270 clients each month. Each IDignity
event takes place at the centrally located Orlando Union Rescue Mission.

"The unity of five churches working together is what has empowered us to
take on this challenge," said Michael Dippy in an interview. Dippy, a
commercial property appraiser and designer, serves as volunteer
coordinator. Since June, IDignity has drawn between 70 and 80 volunteers
from the churches and the Orlando community one Saturday each month.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_102485_ENG_HTM.htm

More Mission: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>FEATURES

>Answering the call

>Nebraska deacon felt led to Sudan ministry

>By Liza Rafael

[Episcopal Life] The call took Deacon Robin McNutt on four plane rides
and a two-hour walk this time. It took her to a village of war-ravaged
Dinka tribal people in Maar, South Sudan, away from the amenities and
luxuries of Western life. This call came in the form of one Sudanese
refugee. 

"The way God calls you is ... anytime," said the Rev. Daniel Deng Kuot.
He met McNutt in 2002 at the Church of the Resurrection in Omaha,
Nebraska, several thousand miles from his home in Lith Payam, Sudan.
McNutt worked with Kuot as program administrator for the outreach
program in the Omaha Sudanese community, and they became close friends.

"This time opened Robin to the outside world," he said. "She asked about
my faith, and I explained stories of life back home and in the States.
She felt she could go as far as Sudan to spread the word of God."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_102445_ENG_HTM.htm

More Features: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78936_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

On November 14, 2008, the church calendar remembers the consecration of
Samuel Seabury, first American bishop, 1784.

* Today in Scripture: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82457_ENG_HTM.htm

* Today in Prayer: Anglican Cycle of Prayer:

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm

* Today in History: On November 14, 565, Roman Emperor Justinian died at
age 82. During his reign, he reunited the Eastern and Western empires
politically and religiously, erected several new basilicas in
Constantinople, and created the Justinian Code, which greatly influenced
the development of canon law in the Middle Ages.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"Waiting in Joyful Hope: Daily Reflections for Advent & Christmas
2008-2009" from Liturgical Press, by Robert F. Morneau, 112 pages,
paperback, c. 2008, $2

[Liturgical Press] "Do not be deceived. Although this is a little book
which fits in the palm of the hand, it is a gem. Flowing from a
prayerful heart and a lively mind, its content is both deep and broad.
Bishop Morneau uses the wisdom of Scripture and literature to make the
beginning of the liturgical year accessible, potent, and inspiring.
Advent and Christmas become new again." -- Dana Greene, Executive
Director, Aquinas Center of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta

In the especially busy season of Advent and Christmas, Bishop Robert
Morneau helps us pause and prepare spiritually for the coming of Christ.
Waiting in Joyful Hope, though a little book, is a treasure of
down-to-earth and yet deeply meaningful reflections that bring prayer
and Scripture into everyday life in a thought-provoking and lasting way.
Through Morneau's insightful reflections on Scripture readings from the
daily Mass, readers will grow in their understanding of the Word of God.
Small enough to fit in a pocket or purse, this book is perfect for busy
people who wish to enrich their personal prayer life during the seasons
of Advent and Christmas.

To order: Episcopal Books and Resources, online at
http://www.episcopalbookstore.org, or call 800-903-5544 -- or visit your
local Episcopal bookseller, http://www.episcopalbooksellers.org

More Catalyst: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/83842_ENG_HTM.htm